Recurrence
by CreaDiem
Summary: Post The Truth. The darkness always finds them.
1. Chapter 1

_Hullo... not sure if this is such a great idea, I'm feeling sort of hesitant towards this story. Anyway, it's set a couple of years after The Truth, needless to say they're living in some remote place and Mulder's in hiding. Please let me know what you think and if it's worth continuing._

_Any likeness to any of the characters in the X-files is... sort of intentional and I apologise. I do not claim to own any of it though, not even Mulder.

* * *

_**ONE**_  
_

He was keeping to the shadows, surrounded by dark trees. The November dusk was dull and draped with a chill that felt like it fed on his bones. An even stream of rain had been falling since last week and made the unwelcoming nights of autumn even more hostile.

He was soaked, standing completely unsheltered. His limbs should be shaking with cold but instead he just stood there, erect and unmoved. Lurking in the shadows. Waiting. Time was his ally. He had waited six years and could easily wait a little longer. He took a piece of cloth from his pocket, put it to his disfigured nose and inhaled deeply. Soon, very soon now.

His line of thoughts was interrupted by the sound of a car pulling into the driveway. He kept intensive watch of the driver as she got out of the car and ran towards the wooden house, holding a jiffy bag over her head to protect her from the streaming rain. The sensation of power overwhelmed and aroused him. He knew practically everything about this woman; that she worked as a physician at a Catholic hospital, that she used conditioner against frizzy hair and that she, every now and then, stopped on her way home from work, bought an ice cream and watched the sunset from her favourite sighting spot. And here she was before him, completely unaware of his presence. The woman suddenly stopped and turned to look at the spot where he was standing. He knew there was no way she could detect him there but instinctively he moved backwards, back into the shadows.

Scully could swear she had seen something moving by the trees but knew she was probably just being paranoid. She tried to shake off the feeling of being watched and went into the house. She put the jiffy bag on the hall table and hung her wet coat to dry. A scent of garlic welcomed her from the kitchen. She went straight in, stopped by the stove to kiss the chef on the cheek and slap his bottom amiably. "Hi there, that smells great, I'm starved."

Mulder gratefully accepted the kiss and the slap and stopped stirring for a minute. "Hi doc, how was work?" He watched her take a seat by the table, put her feet on another chair and start to aimlessly look through the paper.

"Work was good, I'm really making progress on that girl I was telling you about."

"That's great, Scully, I'm sure you will save the day like always." Mulder went back to his cooking. "I'm making you my very famous "_Pasta Muldero_"; tomato sauce, basil and a hint of garlic."

She looked up from her paper, her right eyebrow raised. "That smells like more than a hint Mulder, lucky I won't be making out with any strangers tonight."

"Oh, who knows what the future brings!" He turned around suddenly and started waving the spoon around. "I think maestro Muldero would fancy some dirty business on the couch later," he said, trying to sound like Don Vito Corleone but ending up looking like a gorilla with speaking problems.

"Mulder! You're sprinkling the walls with tomato sauce!" Scully screamed, laughing as she got up to steal the spoon. He wouldn't let her. When she realised she'd have to fight for it she instantly tried to grab it with both her hands and force it out of his firm grip. She obviously didn't stand a chance. Mulder took his free arm, put it round her waist and lifted her like she'd been a pillow. Scully tried to fight back but exploding with laughter she couldn't make much effort. "Now kiss me or I'll drown you in tomato sauce" he said with his bad Italian accent, putting her down and pulling her in close to him. "If you insist" she said leaning in very close, feeling him relax and as she was just about to touch his lips and he closed his eyes she quickly stole the spoon from out of his hand. "Hey!"

"Ha! I win!" she said triumphantly, put the spoon in the pot and strutted off victoriously. "I'll go change, you clean this mess up and set the table, won't you".

He watched her leave the kitchen, sighed, and went to the sink to get a wettex.

* * *

"This was really good Muldero!" She swallowed and nodded to underline her statement, then reached for some more bread.

"I told you, I'm a true maestro." He had really gone all the way with the Italian theme; olives to start, chequered table cloth, Lombardian wine. He'd even made a Tiramisu for dessert. Sitting at home a lot made him kind of restless.

Scully was absorbed by the food. It had been a long day at work and she loved coming home to this; a cooked meal and Mulder. She sat relaxed on the chair, one leg pulled up under her. "Oh, I almost forgot! There was a package for you, it's out on the hall table."

Mulder instantly rose and hasted out to get it. Scully, surprised at his sudden eagerness, watched him almost run out into the hallway. As he came back, ripping up the jiffy bag, she looked at him, eyebrows raised. "Is it something important."

"Well… not really, just something I found on the internet."

She reached for the magazine that had been in the bag together with something unidentifiable. "After Dark, a dive into the paranormal" she read from the cover.

"Yes, it's brand new. I ordered a subscription and got this demon killer for free." He pulled something out that looked a bit like a gargoyle from a plastic bag.

Scully put the magazine away. "Demon killer?"

"Yes, I just need to find out how it works," he said examining the object trying to find hidden buttons.

"In case a demon would drop by?" Scully returned to her pasta. She wasn't really surprised, Mulder spent a lot of time alone in the house and it wasn't exactly the first time something strange came in the mail for him. She was just relieved it wasn't something kinky he'd want her to wear, because that had also happened, from time to time.

"You never know Scully." He put the demon gadget thing away, deciding to look at it later and returned to his dinner.

"Yes Mulder, in this case I think that we can safely say that no demon will drop by, and do you know why?" she said, pointing the fork at him.

"No, why?"

"Because there are no demons."

Mulder shook his head, her constant scepticism never ceased to amaze him. "How can you say that? After all that you've seen, how can you say that demons don't exist?"

"I've never seen a demon. Trick of light, stressful situations, unfortunate facial features, all those things might have fooled my mind into thinking I was seeing a demon but I haven't. I've seen demonic characteristics, but I have no actual proof that I have ever seen a real demon. Besides, that would mean that there are creatures out there who are straight through, pure evil, and I refuse to believe that."

"So you mean that cancer man is not pure evil?"

"I think even he must have a soft spot somewhere."

"What about that pfaster guy. You ended up shooting him because he was altogether evil. You even said something like that yourself."

"I think you'll remember that I wasn't completely sure then, and I'm still not. I don't know why I shot him and I'm not sure I had the right to. Even the devil was an angel at first. I just think that everyone has something good in them, it may be difficult to reach but I still believe that it's there, somewhere. The word of choice here, pure evil, would suggest that this demon, if you call it that, was born evil and has never known goodness. That's not just sad, it's also highly implausible."

"Scully."

"Yes?"

"Are you wearing underwear?"

She laughed and kicked him under the table. "Where's that tiramisu you promised me?"

"Oh you want your dessert? Let's have it in the living room, I'm looking forward to that couch business that _you_ promised _me_."

"I don't remember promising you anything."

"Oh really, I'll just have this to myself then." He grabbed the dessert plates and made for the living room. Scully brought the wine and followed him laughing. Outside in the pouring rain, a dark figure moved away from the window, back into the shadows.

* * *

_Thoughts?_


	2. Chapter 2

**Gosh. Sorry. Not acceptable to wait this long to publish. Big thanks to BBlvr who made me take this up again! Hope you all like it, please let me know what you think!**

**xH  
**

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**CHAPTER 2**

Scully turned off the radio. It had been a rough day at work and she couldn't really be bothered with the hysteric talk and music broadcasted from one of the local stations. Instead she listened to the sound of running tires against asphalt, the sound of a car breaking speedily through time and space, meditating sounds that allowed her to think. She longed to get home. Home. She loved the thought of having a home. It may be that they, or at least he, was still living as a refuge, but she felt safe. Like she wasn't constantly running away from the darkness, like she'd finally found a peaceful place. There were no other cars on the road, there seldom was out here and with a sense of freedom rushing through her, Scully drove a little faster than necessary. The trees rose majestically around her, making it seem like she was alone in the world. A black bundle on the side of the road surprised her and made her step on the brake a little too suddenly. Her head bounced as she stopped and she had to massage her shoulder where the seating belt had probably bruised her. She reversed to get a closer look.

Mulder might have noticed how quiet it was; not a bird was singing, the leaves had stopped trembling and even the wind had gone silent. The rain had taken a short break leaving a damp mist in its stead. Scully however, was too focused on what looked like a body and the potential medical aspects of the situation to notice. She carefully approached the pile of black cloth, cautious not to disturb the ground too much in case there would be a body in there. She bent down, noticed there was indeed a man and while checking his pulse she appeared to wake him up. He was lying face down and the only sign of him noticing her was a faint grunt.

"Don't worry. Lie still. Are you in any pain?" she said, trying to calm him by stroking his back.

The man disobeyed her completely and sat straight up, a little to fast it seemed because he closed his eyes, put his hand against the side of his head and moaned quietly. Scully was at first taken aback by his frightening appearance. His face looked as if half of it had fallen into his scull leaving little more than a crater. His veins seemed to have shaped a different route around his misshaped features, they were shallow and pulsating, looking as though at the tiniest pressure, they would break. Scully could almost see the blood travel around his face, over what she thought must be his nose, taking a turn around his wrinkly forehead and disappear under his fringe. Noticing the hair was a bit uneven she realised it must be a wig. Professional as she was though, she soon found her cool and took charge of the situation.

"I don't think you should sit up," she said trying to make him lye down. "Do you remember what's happened to you?"

"Um… I must have fallen." He looked around hesitantly as though trying to locate himself. He coughed faintly and tried to swallow. "Water. Do you have water?"

His eyelids fell down slowly and he swayed to the side as if he was about to fall again. Scully quickly caught him and carefully lay him down. Pressing him to stay awake she took both her hands on his cheeks, had a quick thought that it was lucky she had gloves on and then felt bad for thinking such a thing. She tried to make him look at her but was unsuccessful. She hit him ever so lightly on the cheek, it seemed to have helped, he looked up in surprise.

"I'm going to try to get you into the car and then I am going to drive you to the hospital, okay?" she told him. "But I'm gonna have to ask you to…"

"No!" He interrupted, trying once more to sit up, "not the hospital."

When he couldn't get up he started shaking his head in panic and rolling to the side, putting his hands between his knees.

"Please, please, not the hospital. Not the hospital. Look what they've done to me. No, not the hospital."

"Alright, not the hospital. Sch, sch…"

She stroke his back trying to make him calm down and did her best to rapidly think of a solution. The best thing would probably be to call an ambulance. But it would take some time for them to get here, and she was still a bit paranoid about speaking of this road on her cell. She knew it was probably stupid, but at the same time she wasn't prepared to take any risks. She wouldn't be able to lift him into the car and if he didn't cooperate there would be nothing she could do for him. He might have been faint, but she still believed he could be strong if need be. There was really just one thing she could do.

"It's gonna be alright" she told him. "I'm going to take you back to my place, how does that sound? No one's going to hurt you."

The man slowly stopped shaking and she managed to lift his right arm over her shoulders and help him to the car where she made him lie down in the back seat. She took her coat off and put it over him like a blanket.

"What's your name?"

"Donald"

"Don't worry, Donald. It's not far. Just lie still."

She drove the short way home, asking him every thirty seconds how he was. Arriving by the house she parked on the driveway and asked Donald to wait in the car, she wanted to prepare Mulder. As she expected she found him in his study. He was sitting with his back to her as she rested her shoulder against the door frame. He was surrounded by papers, magazines and clippings.

"Hi."

He spinned his chair to look at her. "Hello doc. What up?" he said, scissor and news paper in his hand. He saw the look on her face and put them away. "You look troubled."

She looked up at the pencils stuck in the ceiling and wondered if there was any way she could do this without him knowing. Then she looked back at him. "I have someone with me."

"What?" He stood up and stepped close. "What do you mean 'you have someone with you?' Who?"

"I don't know who he is, he's in the car."

"What do you mean? Have they found us?" he started walking to and fro on the floor, scratching his head. Suddenly he stopped to look at her. "Did he force you to take him?"

"No, I took him here by my own choice. Calm down Mulder."

"What are you thinking?" His voice was that of an angry person repressing his anger because he doesn't want to get heard. "We can't suddenly have 'guests', as I'm sure you know" he hissed, stating the obvious.

"He's not a 'guest', he's hurt. I found him on the side of the road. I don't know what's happened to him but I believe he's seriously dehydrated."

"So," Mulder raised his shoulders. He could still not see the point of seriously risk the exposal of their hiding place. "Get him to a hospital."

"I would, but he panicked when I mentioned it. So I thought that if I could get him here, I'll be able to treat him for the night - I have all the things I need - and then he might be in a better state tomorrow for me to persuade him to come with me to work."

"But you know nothing about him, Dana." He grabbed her shoulders. "He could be anyone. We can't trust him."

Scully knew he had a point. She had of course thought of it herself, but what choice had she had? She couldn't just leave him. She took a deep breath. "Mulder, this is not the time to get paranoid. He's seriously ill and if he wanted to harm us there are better ways, wouldn't you agree?"

"But he knows where we live now."

"There's not a chance that he could possibly know where we live. He was lying in the back seat, practically unconscious, while I drove here. Besides, if someone wanted to really get to you, to be perfectly honest, I don't think we would've been able to live as peacefully as we have."

He took a few steps back from her and shook his head. "Never underestimate these people Scully."

"Well… I can't just throw him out now. We should at least give him somewhere to sleep."

He sighed and looked at her. She stood firm by the door, looking at him with steel blue eyes, not once faltering. "Fine, where is he."

"In the car."

Mulder followed her out and was taken aback by the deformities in the man's face. 'What has happened to this man' he thought and hesitated shortly before he brought himself together and managed to help him inside.

Scully did what she could for the man and then left him to sleep. She left a dim light on by the bed, in case he would wake up and be afraid. If she had turned and looked at him as she closed the door she might have seen his eyes wide open, staring at her. And on his forehead, the shape of two horns.

* * *

**To be continued**


	3. Chapter 3

**CHAPTER 3**

How cute; a tiny little lamp at his bedside table. He took hold of it and raised his arms to throw it on the floor, but stopped himself. He didn't want to wake the sweet, sleeping couple. He turned the light off though; he didn't want no fucking light in his room. His room. He giggled. He was inside, he'd gotten inside! Very soon now... But he wanted to do this thoroughly. He wanted to hit them deep. Not just do it and be gone with it. He wanted them to suffer.

He rose from the bed and looked out the window. The rain had started again. There was practically no wind, the rain just kept pouring straight down, tirelessly, like there was no end of it. He lifted his hand to his face, felt the uneven surface of his cheek and embraced the feeling of hate rushing through his veins. Then he took the small piece of cloth out from his pocket. The smell was long gone, but he remembered it clearly and the fabric made him focus, keep his cool.

He went to the door but heard someone outside. Well. No worries. It wasn't even very late yet. He had waited a long time, he could wait a little longer.

* * *

Mulder had trouble relaxing. He twisted and turned and finally took his After Dark magazine and went into the living room. It didn't help. His restlessness made it impossible to concentrate on the articles. He took the magazine with him into the bathroom, then tossed it to the side and took a good look at himself in the mirror as he washed his hands. He really needed to sleep, those dark shades below his eyes did not improve his appearance. He couldn't understand what it was that prevented him from relaxing, he hadn't had trouble sleeping in a long time. Maybe if he drank some warm milk. He went into the kitchen, had a look in the fridge, changed his mind and went back to the bedroom.

Scully was sleeping tightly. She was lying on her side, one hand under her cheek and her lips parted slightly. Mulder both wanted to wake her up and at the same time wanted her to lie peacefully like that forever. He slipped under the cover, put his arms around her waist and pulled her close to him. He sniffed her hair. She was so tiny he felt like he could wrap himself around her completely if he wanted to. Listening to the slow rhythm of her breathing he was able to relax and finally fall into a dreamless sleep.

* * *

He was standing at the exact same spot as when he had first heard someone move about, now it had been quiet for some time. Slowly he opened the door, it squeaked a little and he stopped mid-movement. Not a sound. Barefoot he went out to explore the house. He wasn't really impressed, he would've decorated more. On the mantelpiece in the living room he found a framed picture of the couple. That man, that Mulder-guy, was standing behind her, arms around her waist. They both smiled, looking disgustingly happy. He took the photo out and tore it in half. Looking at the two smiling faces torn apart he wondered if maybe he should change his strategy; destroy their love little by little, see it turn into ashes, watch as they crawled among the broken pieces. Make them alone and miserable, and then… No, better to just stick to the original plan, it was good enough. He took a lighter from the mantelpiece and burned the photo half with Mulder on it, the other one he kept. He wrapped the small piece of fabric around it and put it in his pocket.

He proceeded into the bathroom, one of them - he knew there was an ensuite as well, but this would have to do. Luckily there was a bathtub. Causiously he stepped over some kind of ugly wooden thing and a cheap looking magazine on the floor. He worked slowly and systematically, installing a small camera in the ceiling. When he was finished he caught a glimpse of a frequently used hairbrush. He took it up, extracted a handful of red hair, felt the texture of it with his thumb and was almost aroused. He caressed his cheek with the hair, let it touch his lips lightly. He wondered if he would… was it worth the risk? No matter, he couldn't stop himself now.

Quietly he walked towards the bedroom, opened the door carefully and entered. There was a faint light falling on them from the window, it was dawning. He stepped close to the bed and watched them sleeping peacefully. He loved the sensation of power; he could do just about whatever he liked with them right now. A string of her hair had fallen over her eyes, he removed it and placed it behind her ear. She did not stir. Mulder was lying close to her, a fact that made the visitor full of rage. What if he would explore his powers. He hadn't been there for long so he wasn't sure how strong he was yet. But him knowing so much about them, and then she treating him last night should be enough. Yes, he would definitely try. He lifted his hands, closed his eyes and muttered unhearable words. When he left the room it was even lighter, another gray and rainy day had dawned.

* * *

Scully opened her eyes, panic rushing through her body. He was dead. She desperately wanted to turn around and look at him but at the same time was deadly afraid to. Finally she gathered enough courage to slowly turn her head. Her eyes widened, a few seconds she just lay there in shock, then she jumped out of bed screaming.

"Mulder!" She fell to her knees, not knowing what to think. "Mulder, no."

He was lying right there on the bed, eyes staring out into nothingness. Blood everywhere. Blood on her hands, blood all over the sheets. Her eyes took it all in, but it was like she was looking through a thin veil, like she wasn't really registering everything. How was this possible. She broke into sobs. Then suddenly, he blinked.

"Scully? What's the matter."

She saw the blood disappear right before her eyes, not knowing how to explain it.

"I, you, I saw… you were dead. There was blood, someone had killed you." She started examining first the sheets and then Mulder.

He sat up and reached for her, tried to make her calm down. "Schh… it was a bad dream."

"I know what I saw Mulder. I can't explain it."

"Come here" he pulled her down next to him, held her tightly and repeatedly run his hand through her hair. "Lie here next to me. I'm right here. It's still early. It was just a dream."

Burying herself in his embrace, keeping her head close to his heart, she slowly relaxed in his arms. "I was so scared Mulder. What would I do?"

He loosened the grip and moved away a little so he could look into her eyes. Tenderly he kissed her forehead and her lips, pulled her in tighter and wondered what could have caused the morbid hallucination.

* * *

The visitor went silently back to his room. Pleased with himself he went back to bed to continue his pretended act of sleeping.

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**To be continued**

**What do you think?  
**


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